Monday, August 18, 2014

Roles

I was at work the other day and I was given the task of writing these various roles on notecards so that the support group could pick a random role from the box, for a role-playing activity.

It got me thinking, about roles in society. How much certainty it could provide me if prior to entering a situation I was given a card that told me the context and the role that I was to play. I find myself in a lot of situations, where I have no prior experience, and I feel uncertain and cautious. (Said every human, ever) I look at those situations as a learning experience now, and realize it is not too big of a deal if I make a mistake. In fact probably no one else is thinking about the little awkward thing you did that you are using to beat yourself up.

I remember playing role-playing games in middle school, in high school and little bit in college. I didn't usually enjoy them, despite having the certainty of knowing my role. So I started thinking about those experiences, and why I didn't particularly enjoy them. Like many things I didn't used to enjoy, I ignored the "play" part. After all they were all just games, or icebreakers. I was so concerned about being accepted, that I didn't even consider the fact that the role was really what could be rejected. It had nothing to do with me, I was simply putting on a mask. Maybe the mask fit, maybe it didn't, maybe I liked the role and maybe the role was not for me, however the rejection of how I played the role had nothing to do with me, it was simply a role.